Friday, October 31, 2014

I’ve made the point often enough, but still, why not make it
again. This time with the imprimatur of Scientific
American.

The point is that the standard Western concept of happiness
differs markedly from the standard Asian or Eastern concept.

We in the West associate happiness with personal fulfillment
and especially with the experience of pleasure. In the East, people believe that
social harmony is more important than individual fulfillment and thus we maintain a
different concept of happiness.

One suspects that what passes for the standard Western mode
of happiness-seeking owes much to the therapy culture.

Everyone
wants to be happy. It's a fundamental human right. It's associated with all
sorts of benefits. We, as a society, spend millions trying to figure out what
the key to personal happiness is. There are now even apps to help us turn our
frowns upside down. So everyone wants to be happy—right?

In
Eastern cultures, the emphasis is on attainment of social harmony, where
community and belonging are held in high regard. In Western cultures, the
emphasis is on attainment of happiness, where the individualistic self tends to
be celebrated.

Researchers have also studied the way happiness is defined
in different dictionaries from different nations:

These
values translate to different weights placed on personal happiness. In one
paper, Oishi and his colleagues examined the definition of
happiness in dictionaries from 30 nations, and found that internal inner
feelings of pleasure defined happiness in Western cultures, more so than East
Asian cultures. Instead, East Asians cultures define happiness more in line
with social harmony, and it is associated with good luck and fortune. Indeed,
when researchers measure feelings of positive affect or
pleasure, they go hand in hand with enhanced feelings of happiness by North
America individuals but not by East Asian individuals. Instead, social factors
- such as adapting to social norms or fulfilling relational obligations – were
associated with enhanced feelings of happiness in East Asia.

Aaker and Smith believe, as I do, that we would do well to
take a lesson from the Eastern approach. Perhaps we should not see happiness
solely in individual terms. Perhaps we should act as though we have a greater
awareness of our social being, that is, of other people. Perhaps we should seek
out another form of happiness.

In their words:

But
prioritizing personal happiness leads to a number of problems, like focusing
too much on the self. Perhaps we need a more balanced approach to happiness
in American culture. Personal happiness is beneficial in some contexts, a
limitation in others—good in moderation, but harmful in excess. In some
moments, we may need and benefit from feeling good, but in other moments, we
might be better served anchoring on balanced, meaningful life focused on
others. Happiness, in this light, is not the proverbial goal to chase, but a (happy)
outcome of a life well lived.

Mortimer J Adler, American philosopher, define "In its ethical or moral meaning, the word "happiness" refers to a life well lived, a whole life that is morally good because it is the product of virtue (or the habit of right desire) accompanied by the blessing of good fortune."

It would be nice to know East Asian social values can protect its citizens from the excesses of consumerism. People used to think the protestant virtues would protect us, but not enough apparently.

Elections are coming up next weeks, and perhaps only 50% of eligible voters will particiate. Even if we do participate its hard to even know what issues are worth fighting for. Probably local elections are where you have the most influence, and who takes time to see what local issues are?

Meanwhile I'll continue my long boycott of the consumerization of Christmas, but how do we make gifts meaningful again?

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29786733 Viewpoint: How the consumer dream went wrong-------This word Consumer represents the idea that all we can do is consume, choosing between the options offered us, and that the morally right thing for us to do is to pick the best of these for ourselves, measured in material standards of living, as narrowly defined individuals, and in the short term.

As such, what we do when we use this language is prime ourselves to think in this way, cuing this moral idea. And when we do that, we become more selfish and more short term....Perhaps the most significant effect of the dominance of the Consumer has been on politics. Here, the idea of the Citizen has arguably become meaningless in the face of the Consumer. Policies are researched in market research focus groups, just another Consumer product. Parties target key audiences with specific messages, trying to win votes like Consumer market share. Voting, the act of consumption which used to be considered a minimum for participation, has become instead the maximum.-------